Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Research in the united kingdom
The Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Initiative has proudly partnered with the University of Edinburgh since 2018 to fund low-grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC) specific research in the United Kingdom.
Medical Oncologist Professor Charlie Gourley and Scientist Dr Robb Hollis are leading efforts in the United Kingdom to improve low-grade serous ovarian cancer survival. Based at the University of Edinburgh, their LGSOC research focuses on understanding the gene sequence in LGSOC, alongside other changes at the molecular level in these tumours.
Their main goal is to understand how this influences treatment response, and to use this information to identify new and improved treatments. Their most recent work in LGSOC has used a large drug screening approach to identify further new candidate treatment options.
Professor Gourley has a PhD in ovarian cancer genetics and is the director of the Cancer Research UK Scotland Centre and Nicola Murray Centre for Ovarian Cancer Research. His lab group includes two postdoctoral fellows, one senior scientist, three PhD students, a data manager, a tissue collector/processor and a scientific officer.
Dr Hollis completed his post-doctoral fellowship with Professor Gourley’s laboratory and currently holds an IGC Langmuir Talent Fellowship to develop his own independent research laboratory. They are both members of the International Consortium for Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer (ICLC) and engage in international research collaborations including with researchers in Canada, Australia and across the world.
Support from the Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer Initiative has enabled them to recruit a researcher to grow sophisticated 3-dimensional LGSOC cancer models in the laboratory called organoids. Organoids are a valuable research tool to further understand the biology of LGSOC, helping inform the best treatment for each individual.
We’ve also facilitated funding to support the expansion of their drug screening study in the hope of identifying new combination treatments to improve the effectiveness of trametinib (a MEK inhibitor used in recurrent LGSOC).
Research highlights from their lab include:
- Four potential new treatments for LGSOC identified through the screening of over 1,600 drugs in LGSOC cell lines which may be included in future clinical trials.
- Quantified the benefits of complete macroscopic resection in LGSOC, providing evidence to support the role of extensive surgery in LGSOC to improve survival.
- Professor Gourley was the European lead for the first positive randomised clinical trial in LGSOC, published in 2022. It showed that trametinib represented a new standard of care option for patients with recurrent LGSOC.
- Alongside researchers in the US, Professor Gourley and Dr Hollis are leading the molecular analysis of samples from the trametinib trial of LGSOC to identify biological markers of patients who benefit most from this new therapy.
- A study led by Dr Hollis has shown that LGSOC with specific gene mutations have a different appearance under the microscope. These same mutations are currently the best marker of likelihood of responding to trametinib. This different appearance of mutated LGSOC under the microscope may help more easily identify patients who could benefit most from trametinib, especially in clinical settings where sequence analysis isn’t readily accessible.
Donations and fundraising facilitated through the LGSOC Initiative help fund Professor Gourley’s and Dr Hollis’ research to advance treatments and survival for low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
Fundraise or donate today to help us fund transformational LGSOC-specific research!